NEWS

Climate change: Four students become volunteer speakers

August 16, 2012

Four students in the specialized Graduate Diploma in Management and Sustainable Development program may soon be serving as volunteer speakers on the vital issues related to climate change. Julie Beauvilliers, Jean-Nicolas François, Philipe Tomlinson and Pascal Vignon, selected by the Climate Reality Project Canada (Climate Reality Canada), are part of 115 Canadians and 800 others from some twenty countries who will be attending training sessions given by Al Gore and climate change experts, from August 21 to 23, in California.

All the participants in this training have agreed to give at least 10 free lectures on the impact of climate change and possible solutions to the crisis. These highly popular lectures are intended for a large number of audiences, from elementary and secondary schools to universities, companies, event organizers (conferences, symposia, etc.), government organizations and more – they just have to apply on the Climate Reality Canada site. Since the organization was created in 2007, over 3,200 lectures have been delivered by some 300 speakers, reaching close to 250,000 Canadians.

According to Karel Mayrand, Chair of the organization’s Board, “this training allows Climate Reality Canada to reach more members of the public. Since some of our speakers come from the Quebec business community, it allows us to better advise Quebec small and medium-sized businesses that want to rally to the cause of fighting climate change.”

About Climate Reality Canada

Climate Reality Canada is a non-profit organization that serves as the Canadian component of a global movement, the Climate Reality Project, founded and run by former U.S. Democratic Vice-President and 2007 Nobel Laureate Al Gore, with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. To carry out its activities, Climate Reality Canada relies on financial partners committed to sustainable development, including the Quebec government, Desjardins General Insurance and the Conférence régionale des élus de Montréal. In addition, the organization has a strategic alliance with the David Suzuki Foundation, which is widely recognized for its efforts to bring the urgency of climate change to the Canadian public. Note that the Climate Reality Project Canada Secretariat is located in the Montreal offices of the David Suzuki Foundation in Quebec.